There is a delightful freshness and immediacy about to-day's first reading. We can almost see Noah letting the birds in and out of the ark and hear him discussing what to do with his family. We can share his delight when the dove returns with the leaf in its beak. The fragrance of the sacrificial food almost reaches our nostrils.

God was pleased with Noah's faithfulness. As a result, he promised us that, no matter whatever evil might be done by the men and women to come, we would still have a world to live in, a world to enjoy and improve.

It takes time and practice to become aware of the cooing of the doves in the trees or the scurrying of the squirrels from branch to branch or the slow, graceful circling of the black-eared kites in the skies above us.

Commentators of the Gospel generally agree that the gradual two-stage opening of the man's eyes symbolises the gradual opening of the disciples' eyes to the truth about Jesus: he has to suffer and die before his triumphal vindication.

Perhaps, however, it is permissible on this occasion to see the blind man's coming to a clearer vision as a sign of our gradual awakening to the beauty of our world and to our need to preserve that beauty for others to see and hear and smell.